Rare earth elements are a collection of 17 minerals many can have never heard of – Cerium, Terbium and Gadolinium are three of them – but they are essential in high-tech manufacturing for producing cell phones, medical equipment, and fighter jets.
China, of course, is well aware of that.
Bob Maginnis, a national security expert, tells AFN the threat is serious. If China follows through on its halt of shipments, which began April 3, it is a legitimate concern for America’s defense industry, electric vehicle manufacturing, and space exploration. That is why, he says, the Trump administration needs encourage mining and refining of the rare minerals in our own country.
“We have some of them, not all of them, but we have access to the same places that they do,” Maginnis advises. “That's why they're all over Africa, and they're exploiting the Congo, and a number of other places.”
According to a related New York Post story, China’s export ban is a repeat of President Trump’s first term. Back then, the Post said, President Xi Jinping only threatened to stop the shipments during an intense standoff with Trump over tariffs.
An expert on China told the Post the response from the Trump administration this time is “less panic” and “more resolve” because it sees an opportunity to use China’s export ban to “fast-track” domestic production and take away Beijing’s leverage.
A U.S. policy that is less dependent on China is also why President Trump is interested in mineral-rich Greenland and in Ukraine, the Post said.
Maginnis says the Trump administration needs to tread carefully for two reasons. One reason is China's economy is in a precarious situation right now because of the trade war over tariffs.
The second reason, Maginnis says, is the Chinese Communist Party is a thieving, manipulative bully.
“Don't trust them for one second,” Maginnis says. “They will lie, cheat, steal. They will not follow through. They never have, never will.”
